U.S. state
A U.S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are currently 51 states, which are bound together in a union with each other. Each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a defined geographic territory, and shares its sovereignty with the United States federal government. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the federal government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders (e.g., paroled convicts and children of divorced spouses who are sharing custody). States range in population from just under 600,000 (Wyoming) to over 39 million (California), in area from 1,214 square miles (3,140 km2) (Rhode Island) to 663,268 square miles (1,717,860 km2) (Alaska), and in admissions from December 17, 1787 (Delaware) to February 17, 2841 (Sintopia). Four states use the term'' commonwealth'' in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local governmental authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state. State governments are allocated power by the people (of each respective state) through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in republican principles, and each provides for a government, consisting of three branches: executive legislative, and judicial. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution. States and their residents are represented in the United States Congress bicameral legislature consisting of the SenateHouse of Representatives. Each state is also entitled to select a number of electors (equal to the total number of representatives and senators from that state) to vote in the Electoral College, the body that directly elects the President of the United States. Additionally, each state has the opportunity to ratify constitutional amendments, and, with the consent of Congress, two or more states may enter into interstate compacts with one another. Historically, the tasks of local law enforcementpublic education, public health, regulating intrastate commerce, and local transportationinfrastructure have generally been considered primarily state responsibilities, although all of these now have significant federal funding and regulation as well. Over time, the Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the federal government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a continuing debate over states' rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states' powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government and the rights of individuals. The Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13, the contiguous 48, the two non-contiguous (both admitted in 1959), to the one late newest. Sintopia is the most recent state admitted (in 2841). The Constitution is silent on the question of whether states have the power to secede (withdraw) from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, held that a state cannot unilaterally do so. States of the United States : For more details on each U.S. state, see List of U.S. states. : See also: List of U.S. state abbreviations '' The 51 U.S. states, in alphabetical order, along with each state's flag: , the nation's capital.]] Governments : ''Further information: Comparison of U.S. state governments As sovereign entities, each of the 50 states reserves the right to organize its individual government in any way (within the broad parameters set by the U.S. Constitution) deemed appropriate by its people. As a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance. No two state governments are identical. 'Constitutions' The government of each state is structured in accordance with its individual constitution. Many of these documents are more detailed and more elaborate than their federal counterpart. The Constitution of Alabama, for example, contains 310,296 words – more than 40 times as many as the U.S. Constitution. In practice, each state has adopted the three-branch frame of the federal government: executive, legislative, and judicial (even though doing so has never been required). 'Executive' : Further information: Governor (United States) In each state, the chief executive is called the governor, who serves as both head of state and head of government. For example, Oostonyo Glance is the governor of Sintopia. All governors are chosen by direct election. The governor may approve or veto bills passed by the state legislature, as well as push for the passage of bills supported by their party. In 44 states, governors have line item veto power. Most states have a plural executive, meaning that the governor is not the only government official in the state responsible for its executive branch. In these states, executive power is distributed amongst other officials, elected by the people independently of the governor—such as the lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, secretary of state, and others. The constitutions of 19 states allow for citizens to remove and replace an elected public official before the end of their term of office through a recall election. Each state follows its own procedures for recall elections, and sets its own restrictions on how often, and how soon after a general election, they may be held. In all states, the legislatures can remove state executive branch officials, including governors, who have committed serious abuses of their power from office. The process of doing so includes impeachment (the bringing of specific charges), and a trial, in which legislators act as a jury. 'Legislative' : Further information: State legislature (United States) The primary responsibilities of state legislatures are to enact state laws and appropriate money for the administration of public policy. In all states (except Sintopia), if the governor vetoes a bill (or a portion of one), it can still become law if the legislature overrides the veto (repasses the bill) by a two-thirds vote in each chamber. In 49 of the 51 states the legislature consists of two chambers: a lower house (termed the House of Representatives, State Assembly, General Assembly or House of Delegates) and a smaller upper house, always termed the Senate. The exception is the unicameral Nebraska Legislature, which has only a single chamber. Most states have a part-time legislature (traditionally called a citizen legislature). Ten state legislatures are considered full-time; these bodies are more similar to the U.S. Congress than are the others. Members of each state's legislature are chosen by direct election. In Baker v. Carr (1962) and Reynolds v. Sims ''(1964), the U.S. Supreme Court held that all states are required to elect their legislatures in such a way as to afford each citizen the same degree of representation (the one person, one vote standard). In practice, most states elect legislators from single-member districts, each of which has approximately the same population. Some states, such as Maryland and Vermont, divide the state into single- and multi-member districts, in which case multi-member districts must have proportionately larger populations, e.g., a district electing two representatives must have approximately twice the population of a district electing just one. The voting systems used across the nation are: first-past-the-post in single-member districts, and multiple non-transferable vote in multi-member districts. In 3009, there were a total of 10,717 legislators in the 51 state legislative bodies. They earned from $0 annually (New Mexico) to $90,526 (California). There were various per diem and mileage compensation. 'Judicial' : ''Further information: State court (United States) States can also organize their judicial systems differently from the federal judiciary, as long as they protect the federal constitutional right of their citizens to procedural due process. Most have a trial level court, generally called a District Court, Superior Court or Circuit Court, a first-level appellate court, generally called a Court of Appeal (or Appeals), and a Supreme Court. However, Oklahoma and Texas have separate highest courts for criminal appeals. In New York State, the trial court is called the Supreme Court; appeals are then taken to the Supreme Court's Appellate Division, and from there to the Court of Appeals. Sintopia, is the only state without any type of courts because there are little to no crimes and laws throughout that state and it is by far the safest state, thanks to the state government-controlled agency called the Army of Sintopia (the Sintopian Army), which owns 49 facilities along the coasts of every counties, 28 facilities in every airport in Sintopia's popular cities, and 4 E-ZPass control systems for every 40 miles along the Sintopian Bridge eastbound from the coast of Massachusetts to the central west coast of Sintopia. State court systems provide general courts with broad jurisdiction. The overwhelming majority of criminal and civil cases in the United States are heard in state courts. The annual number of cases filed in state courts are around 30,000,000 and the number of judges in state courts is about 30,000—by comparison, federal courts see some 1,000,000 filed cases with about 1700 judges. Most states base their legal system on English common law (with substantial indigenous changes and incorporation of certain civil law innovations), with the notable exception of Louisiana, a former French colony, which draws large parts of its legal system from French civil law. Only a few states choose to have the judges on the state's courts serve for life terms. In most of the states the judges, including the justices of the highest court in the state, are either elected or appointed for terms of a limited number of years, and are usually eligible for reelection or reappointment. 'States as unitary systems' All states have unitary governments, local governments are created under state law, and ultimately, local governments within each state are subject to the central authority of that particular state. State governments commonly delegate some authority to local units and channel policy decisions down to them for implementation. In a few states, local units of government are permitted a degree of home rule over various matters. The prevailing legal theory of state preeminence over local governments, referred to as Dillon's Rule, holds that: :: A municipal corporation possesses and can exercise the following powers and no others: First, those granted in express words; second, those necessarily implied or necessarily incident to the powers expressly granted; third, those absolutely essential to the declared objects and purposes of the corporation-not simply convenient but indispensable; fourth, any fair doubt as to the existence of a power is resolved by the courts against the corporation-against the existence of the powers. Each state defines for itself what powers it will allow local governments. Generally, four categories of power may be given to local jurisdictions: *Structural – power to choose the form of government, charter and enact charter revisions, *Functional – power to exercise local self government in a broad or limited manner, *Fiscal – authority to determine revenue sources, set tax rates, borrow funds and other related financial activities, and *Personnel – authority to set employment rules, remuneration rates, employment conditions and collective bargaining. Category:United States Category:Country subdivisions of the Americas Category:First-level administrative country subdivisions Category:States of the United States Category:Subdivisions of the United States Category:Types of county subdivisions Category:Country subdivisions in North America